A fire tore through a camp for displaced Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State on Tuesday, destroying 55 shelters and rendering 2,291 camp residents homeless, local sources said.
Myo Hlaing Win, who heads the camp, said the fire broke out around 9 am at Baw Du Pha 2 Camp, which is one of the largest camps and home to nearly 7,000 Muslims. It is located several kilometres north of the state capital Sittwe.
“We called the fire service department a few minutes later and fire engines arrived here at about 10:30 a.m. About 49 houses were already burnt down at that time,” he told Myanmar Now, adding that a total of 55 UN-built longhouses were destroyed before the fire was put under control. One longhouse contains living units for eight families.
“An infant is still missing and eight internally displaced persons were injured,” Myo Hlaing Win said. “The eight injured people are being treated for their injuries.”
Those who lost their homes had been given temporary shelter at market stalls near the camp, though there was little space, said Myo Hlaing Win. He said victims who stayed there would receive aid, though he added that “most of the victims don’t want to move to the temporary shelter.”
Chit Hlaing, a Rohingya man who lost his house, said he was reluctant to move his family. “We will keep living with our relatives at the fire-affected area as the temporary shelter has little space,” he said, adding that living conditions there were not suitable for women and children.
“The new place for evacuated persons has no water and toilets. So we expect reconstruction of shelters here,” he added.
The camps in northern Rakhine State house some 130,000 stateless Rohingya Muslims who were displaced following a 2012 outbreak of deadly clashes with Rakhine Buddhist communities.
Security forces have since kept the sides segregated, while the Rohingya also face restrictions on travel and access to basic services such as health care and education.
